Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda has unveiled the Canadian International Development Agency’s new strategy for sustainable economic growth, which comes with 155.3 million Canadian dollars (USD152 million) in funding for projects that help to reduce poverty through economic growth and job creation.
The strategy focuses on three pillars:
- Building economic foundations by improving legal and regulatory frameworks, strengthening public financial management, supporting regional integration and enhancing the management of natural resources.
- Growing businesses through support for small and medium-sized enterprises and financial services including microfinance.
- Investing in people by increasing access to skills training, increasing workplace learning opportunities and supporting results-based learning initiatives.
The funding of 155.3 million Canadian dollars will back 12 projects that support the strategy in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. The biggest portion of the funding, worth 40 million Canadian dollars, will back the 2009-2014 multilateral aid-for-trade initiative, which aims to increase jobs and economic opportunities in the Americas and Africa.
